"I did not get hurt, but so dirty" - Tadej Pogacar reveals Paris-Roubaix recon crashes and tyre size choice

Tadej Pogacar is at the start of Paris-Roubaix this morning in Compiègne with a special bike that has been tested on several occasions before the big day. Throughout the recons of the route, the World Champion has tested out different bike setups for his Colnago bike and also revealed that he has crashed whilst exploring the route on previous visits.

"It was so muddy it was not even cobbles, we were basically riding on the field," Pogacar said in a pre-race interview, as reported by TNT Sports. "I crashed twice, but luckily there was so much mud I did not get hurt, but so dirty".

Initially Pogacar was in northern France in early December right before the start of his first team training camp in the Costa Blanca, and later on he was in Roubaix on at least one more occasion before returning for a few days this week into the big weekend.

But throughout the winter the cobbled sectors are not maintained as much and the winter weather naturally creates more dangerous conditions, with the mud being present a lot more on what are essentially farm roads.

He is taking to the start of Roubaix with an aero bike, something which perfectly outlines the technological advances of the sport in recent years. Former winner Servais Knaven argued recently how the development of tubeless tyres has allowed the riders to race with much wider tyres in this race without experiencing losses on the roads themselves, which leads to a massive increase in comfort and also allowed lighter riders to race with the more traditional heavyweight classics specialists.

"It was really good. In Paris-Roubaix the technology, the tyres, the frames are always developing. It is not as targeted as the road bikes, so there is always still room for improvement. I think we definitely did upgrade from last year, but I think everybody is doing upgrades for the years to come".

Over the decades the tyres have become wider and wider across all fronts and in Roubaix it is a day where the choices are very specific and deliberate. The World Champion didn't make it a secret on what he will be racing with: "The front is 35mm, the back is 32."